From c38c82a12a9c75bd8f0e4d7eb54422ef1b62717b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: =?UTF-8?q?Franz=20P=C3=B6schel?= <franz.poeschel@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2023 11:46:49 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] Accept undefined dataset as long as no chunks are written yet

Just ignore and skip the component in that case
---
 src/RecordComponent.cpp              | 18 +++++++++++++++---
 src/backend/PatchRecordComponent.cpp | 20 ++++++++++++++++----
 2 files changed, 31 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/RecordComponent.cpp b/src/RecordComponent.cpp
index 1b909d3ab3..a54373be59 100644
--- a/src/RecordComponent.cpp
+++ b/src/RecordComponent.cpp
@@ -242,9 +242,21 @@ void RecordComponent::flush(
          */
         if (!rc.m_dataset.has_value())
         {
-            throw error::WrongAPIUsage(
-                "[RecordComponent] Must specify dataset type and extent before "
-                "flushing (see RecordComponent::resetDataset()).");
+            // The check for !written() is technically not needed, just
+            // defensive programming against internal bugs that go on us.
+            if (!written() && rc.m_chunks.empty())
+            {
+                // No data written yet, just accessed the object so far without
+                // doing anything
+                // Just do nothing and skip this record component.
+                return;
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                throw error::WrongAPIUsage(
+                    "[RecordComponent] Must specify dataset type and extent "
+                    "before flushing (see RecordComponent::resetDataset()).");
+            }
         }
         if (!written())
         {
diff --git a/src/backend/PatchRecordComponent.cpp b/src/backend/PatchRecordComponent.cpp
index 9e51994800..c418eb5fed 100644
--- a/src/backend/PatchRecordComponent.cpp
+++ b/src/backend/PatchRecordComponent.cpp
@@ -104,10 +104,22 @@ void PatchRecordComponent::flush(
     {
         if (!rc.m_dataset.has_value())
         {
-            throw error::WrongAPIUsage(
-                "[PatchRecordComponent] Must specify dataset type and extent "
-                "before "
-                "flushing (see RecordComponent::resetDataset()).");
+            // The check for !written() is technically not needed, just
+            // defensive programming against internal bugs that go on us.
+            if (!written() && rc.m_chunks.empty())
+            {
+                // No data written yet, just accessed the object so far without
+                // doing anything
+                // Just do nothing and skip this record component.
+                return;
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                throw error::WrongAPIUsage(
+                    "[PatchRecordComponent] Must specify dataset type and "
+                    "extent before flushing (see "
+                    "RecordComponent::resetDataset()).");
+            }
         }
         if (!written())
         {